As we all know now that Covid-19, alert Level-3 restrictions that came in force from mid noon of 12th August in Auckland have now been extended till 30th August 11:59 pm on the Sunday night. Masks will be made mandatory in all public transports from Monday, July 31, when Auckland moves to alert Level-2 in Auckland. Rest of the New Zealand also stays in alert Level-2 until further announcement.

Jacinda was under lot of pressure from many business organisations and oppositions parties combined to bring Auckland down to Level-2 restrictions so business activities can restart, and the normalcy can be restored to businesses. The worst effected industries of retail and hospitality were expecting the announcement from government of moving to next level down which did not happen. Government tried to do a balancing act by extending lockdown by two more working days hence buying two more days of weekend and completing the whole week. Prime minister took the decision after a cabinet meeting where Director General of Health Dr Bloomfield briefed the cabinet about the number of cases and its trend and progress finding the index case, the spread of the virus and whether there are any cases still not linked to the Auckland cluster.

There has been a mixed reaction on government’s decision and Aucklanders are divided on the matter. While most businesses and city’s Mayor have supported the ease to restrictions, health experts and community leaders are apprehensive about lifting the restrictions too early. Jacinda described her decision as a finely balanced one, as on one hand she had to keep in mind about the health and wellbeing of Aucklanders and on the other hand she could not ignore the implications of Level-3 restrictions so her immediate goal was to bring the whole country down to Level-2. Auckland being the largest city in country and the biggest contributor to the economy cannot afford to be in restrictions for very long. The second lockdown has hit the city very hard and the already struggling hospitality and retail businesses had barely managed to move a little bit and then second lockdown came down crashing, putting everything to a halt again. As per economy experts, Auckland is losing business to the tune of around 50 million a day in the lockdown period. Hence, Prime Minister has assured businesses that two-weeks wage subsidy support will stay as is.

Prime Minister reiterated that government would stick to its ‘stamping out’ strategy against the virus though this time many people may have found it harder than earlier. About managing the virus, Jacinda said we may have no choice about whether or not world is in a global pandemic, but we do have choices about how as a government we deal with it. The government is of the view that but for the restriction of Level-3 lockdown the Auckland cluster would have been much larger. The testing done in two weeks of Level-3 lockdown will continue at the same pace and we may see some more cases coming out but a team in full force is working to stamp the virus out. The government is of the view that while there are economic repercussions of restrictions and lockdowns but saving people’s live is paramount and more important than any economic fallout

Government is also keeping an eye on the prospects of electioneering for the upcoming elections which now have been moved to 17th October. Even if we move to Level-2 from Monday, most parties will have only around 45 days’ time to go around to tell people why they should vote for them and what different or better they can do from the current Labour led government. Which side the tide will settle, only time will tell.

-Yugal Parashar